"Outsourced," a new NBC sitcom that debuted last Thursday, tells the story of a call center manager at a Midwestern novelties company who is transferred to India to train a new staff. The show--at least the pilot that aired last week--is not particularly funny, but more interestingly, it is not particularly timely. 

The jokes are hackneyed and the stereotypes are stale. By now, most of us have had first-hand experience with a call center agent in India doing his or her level best to make small talk about American sports or pop culture. Most of us are familiar with curry, and few of us find it daunting. Most of us past the age of 14 understand that not everyone's name has a familiar Anglo-Saxon ring to it, and we aren't horribly befuddled by that reality.

What is most puzzling perhaps about "Outsourced," though, is that a TV network would debut it in 2010 rather than, say, the late 1990s when outsourcing to India was a burgeoning, exciting phenomenon. The outsourcing industry continues to experience growth overall, but India's share of the market is declining, according to an analyst with the research firm Ovum. Meanwhile, China's outsourcing capabilities and range are driving greater competition. Some analysts predict that India could lose its edge to China before long, and both countries are seeing competition from other Asian nations in addition to countries in Latin America.  

There are many timely developments in the realm of outsourcing that could be explored, including in-sourcing, rural sourcing, and in-shoring. One of the most interesting trends seems to be the move by large Indian outsourcing operations to offshore their work to Latin America. A TV show about outsourcing that's ready for prime time might feature an Indian outsourcing firm that sends its managers to Uruguay to train employees how to work with the American or European consumer. That could be entertaining. - Caron